Credit Scoring in the United Kingdom is very different to that of the United States and other nations. There is no such thing as a universal credit score or credit rating in the UK. Each lender will assess potential borrowers on their own criteria, and these algorithms are effectively trade secrets. "Credit scores" which are available for individuals to see and provided from Credit Reference Agencies such as Call Credit, Equifax and Experian are the result of marketing departments at credit agencies realising they could sell a product to consumers and are not used by lenders. Lenders instead use their own internal scoring mechanism.
A credit reporting agency (CRA) is a company that collects information about where you live and work, how you pay your bills, whether or not you have been sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy. All of this information is combined together in a credit report. A CRA will then sell your credit report to creditors, employers, insurers, and others. These companies will use these reports to make decisions about extending credit, jobs, and insurance policies to you.
This part of your credit score will look at how much debt you have. Your credit report uses your statement balance. So, even if you pay your credit card statement in full every month (never pay any interest), it would still show as debt on your credit report, because it uses your statement balance. This part of your score will look at a few elements:
After you’ve taken advantage of your annual freebies, use a personal finance site for frequent, ongoing credit monitoring. Monitoring your scores and reports can tip you off to problems such as an overlooked payment or identity theft. It also lets you track progress on building your credit. NerdWallet offers both a free credit report summary and a credit score, updated weekly.
A credit report includes information on where you live, how you pay your bills, and whether you’ve been sued or have filed for bankruptcy. Nationwide credit reporting companies sell the information in your report to creditors, insurers, employers, and other businesses that use it to evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment, or renting a home.